Mike Newell and The Terminal Spy

by nathanblochFebruary 12, 2010 at 6:42PM
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Director Mike Newell (Prince of Persia, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is taking on a movie that is decidedly adult: an adaptation of Alan Cowell's nonfictional account of the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian emigre, in 2006. The book is titled The Terminal Spy.

Slash Film reports that the film is at Warner Bros. in development but doesn't yet have a cast:

The 448-page book is about the mysterious death of ex-Russian KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in 2006 and while laying in his London hospital bed, personally accused then-Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind his murder.

This could make for a very intense political thriller, something along the lines of All the President's Men and JFK and Spy Game.

It seems interesting, however, how contemporary this subject is. Is it possible this could make relations between the USSR -- oops, I meant Russia -- and the U.S. more tense than they already are?

Also, without knowing the details of the book, what's going to happen during the film? Presumably it won't be about watching a man die of a radioactive isotope for however many weeks or days it took. Nonetheless, this could become both a really entertaining film and an Oscar contender. Imagine that!